Preparation of a powdered vinegar

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a powdered vinegar that comprises partly neutralized vinegar, i.e. vinegar derived acid that is partly neutralized with e.g. sodium and/or potassium hydroxide, and free vinegar derived acid. The invention also provides a process for producing such a powdered vinegar and the use of this powdered vinegar in a foodstuff or a beverage, e.g. as a preservative. The present process offers the advantage that it yields a stable, free flowing powdered vinegar that can suitably be used as a preservative in e.g. processed meat products. The powdered vinegar has a high content of free acid, is easy to dissolve and acts as an acidulant.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/418,396 filed Jul. 31, 2015, which is a continuation of InternationalApplication No. PCT/NL2013/050573, filed Jul. 31, 2013, which claimspriority to European Application No. 12178789.9, filed Aug. 1, 2012, andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/678,133 filed Aug. 1, 2012,all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a powdered vinegar comprising partlyneutralized vinegar, e.g. neutralized with a sodium and/or potassiumhydroxide, and free acid. The invention also provides a process forproducing such a powdered vinegar and the use of this powdered vinegarin a foodstuff or a beverage, e.g. as a preservative.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Industrial processing of meat for human consumption aims to provideprocessed meat products that combine an appealing appearance and flavorwith microbial safety and prolonged shelf-life. Consumers evaluate meatproducts on the basis of a number of sensory attributes. Color,juiciness, flavor, and tenderness are believed to represent the mostrelevant sensory attributes of processed meat products. Color is thefirst factor noticed by consumers and is therefore given much attention.

A number of FDA approved compounds are widely used for the curing ofmeat, including salt, nitrite, nitrate (certain types of meats),reductants, phosphates, sodium lactate, sodium diacetate, citric acid,and sodium bicarbonate. Most ingredients used for curing are restrictedby food regulatory agencies such as the FDA.

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the foods they eat and theadditives which are included therein. As a result of this increasingawareness, sales of foods labeled “natural” are increasing.Consequently, food manufacturers are looking to replace ‘artificial’food additives by natural ingredients so as to achieve a ‘friendlylabel’. Also meat processors are looking for natural, friendly labelalternatives that can replace artificial curing agents such as nitrate.

Vinegar is a well-known product that is widely used in domestic cookingas well as in industrially produced foodstuffs. When used as aningredient in industrially produced foodstuffs, vinegar is usuallylisted on the label as “vinegar”, even though vinegar is mostly used asan acidulant.

For some food applications, such as in most processed meat products, theuse of liquid vinegar is not an option. This is why powdered vinegarshave been developed.

US 2010/0310738 describes a vinegar-derived food additive compositionwhich is a buffering food additive comprising vinegar-derived acetate,such as sodium acetate or potassium acetate, and vinegar and has a pH ofabout 7.0 to about 10.0. The buffering food additive is produced bytreating vinegar with a basic neutralizing agent, such as sodiumbicarbonate, sodium carbonate, or potassium bicarbonate, to produce apartially-neutralized vinegar with a pH of below about 7.0. Thepartially neutralized vinegar is dried, such as by evaporation and heat,to produce an acetate, such as sodium acetate or potassium acetate.Vinegar is added back to the acetate to produce a buffering foodadditive having a pH of about 7.0 to about 10.0.

US 2010/031078 further describes a method of preparing a food additivefrom vinegar comprising:

-   a) treating vinegar with a basic neutralizing agent to partially    neutralize the vinegar to a pH of below about 7.0;-   b) evaporating water from and drying the product of step (a) to    produce an acetate; and-   c) adding vinegar to the acetate of step (b) to produce a    vinegar-acetate dry powder or solution having a pH of about 4.5 to a    pH of about 10.0.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventors have developed a process for the production of apowdered vinegar that yields a product that can suitably used as anadditive in food products. The method according to the present inventioncomprises the steps of:

-   a) providing a first liquid vinegar;-   b) adjusting the pH of said first liquid vinegar to a value within    the range of 6.0-10.0. to produce a neutralized vinegar;-   c) drying said neutralized vinegar to produce vinegar derived    particles having a water content of less than 5 wt. %;-   d) providing a second liquid vinegar;-   e) combining said second liquid vinegar with the vinegar derived    particles in a weight ratio of 1:15 to 1:5;    wherein, during step e), the vinegar derived particles are agitated    and the temperature of the vinegar derived particles and second    liquid vinegar is controlled to stay below 54° C.

The present process offers the advantage that it yields a stable, freeflowing powdered vinegar that can suitably be used as a preservative ine.g. processed meat products. The powdered vinegar has a high content offree acid, is easy to dissolve and acts as an acidulant.

In the present process the neutralized vinegar is dried to a very lowwater content, resulting in the presence of a substantial amount ofanhydrous salt in the vinegar derived particles. Although the inventorsdo not wish to be bound by theory, it is believed that at least afraction of the water that is contained in the second liquid vinegar isincorporated in the powdered vinegar as a component of hydrated salt.Thus, at least part of the water contained in the second liquid vinegaris present in the powdered vinegar as bound water. Aa stable non-lumpingpowdered vinegar can be produced even if a substantial quantity of wateris added as a part of the second liquid vinegar.

Another aspect of the invention relates to powdered vinegar that isobtained by the aforementioned process.

Yet another aspect of the invention relates to the use of the powderedvinegar in the preparation of foodstuffs and beverages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a first aspect of the invention concerns a process ofproducing a powdered vinegar comprising the steps of:

-   a) providing a first liquid vinegar;-   b) adjusting the pH of said first liquid vinegar to a value within    the range of 5.5-7.0, preferably in the range of 6.0-7.0 to produce    a neutralized vinegar;-   c) drying said neutralized vinegar to produce vinegar derived    particles having a water content of less than 5 wt. %;-   d) providing a second liquid vinegar;-   e) combining said second liquid vinegar with the vinegar derived    particles in a weight ratio of 1:15 to 1:1, preferably 1:7 to 1:1;    wherein, during step e), the vinegar derived particles are agitated    and the temperature of the vinegar derived particles and second    liquid vinegar is controlled to stay below 58° C.

The term “liquid vinegar” as used herein refers to an aqueous liquidthat contains at least 4% (w/v) free acid. Liquid vinegar is typicallyproduced by fermenting an alcohol containing liquid with acetic acidproducing bacteria under aerobic conditions. Examples of liquid vinegarsthat may suitably be employed in the present process include maltvinegar, wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, apple cider vinegar, fruitvinegars, rice vinegar and combinations thereof.

Whenever reference is made herein to the water content of a material,unless indicated otherwise, this refers to the total amount of waterthat is contained in the material, including free as well as bound water(e.g. water contained in hydrated salts).

The powdered vinegar produced by the present process containsneutralized as well as free acid. The levels and hydration state of theneutralized acids in the powdered vinegar that are employed in thepresent process are such that they enable the production of a storagestable powdered vinegar despite the presence of appreciable levels offree acid and hydrated water.

The first liquid vinegar that is employed in the present processtypically has a pH of less than 2.5, more preferably of less than 2.3,more preferably of less than 2.1, and most preferably less than 2.0,before the pH adjustment in step b). Typically, before the pH adjustmentin step b), said pH may above 1, preferably above 1.2, more preferablyabove 1.4, most preferably above 1.5.

The first liquid vinegar typically contains 10-40% (w/v), morepreferably 20-35% (w/v) and most preferably 25-30% (w/v) free acid. Thedry matter content of the first liquid vinegar typically lies in therange of 10-42 wt. %. Preferably, the dry matter content is in the rangeof 20-37 wt. %, most preferably of 25-32 wt. %.

The first liquid vinegar may contain a certain amount of undissolvedsolids. Typically, the amount of undissolved solids does not exceed 10wt. %. Even more preferably, the amount of undissolved solids does notexceed 5 wt. %, most preferably it does not exceed 1 wt. %.

Adjustment of the pH of the first liquid vinegar to a value within therange of 5.5 to 10.0 results in the formation of salts of bufferedvinegar. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the pH of thefirst liquid vinegar is adjusted to a value that does not exceed 8,preferably it does not exceed 7.5, more preferably it does not exceed7.0, more preferably it does not exceed 6.9, most preferably it does notexceed 6.8. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the pH ofthe first liquid vinegar is adjusted to a value that is not below 5.5,preferably it is not below 5.8, more preferably it does not below 6.0,more preferably it is not below 6.1, most preferably it is not below6.2.

The adjustment of the pH of the first liquid vinegar in step b) of thepresent process preferably comprises addition of a neutralizing agentselected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, potassiumhydroxide, sodium (bi) carbonate, potassium (bi) carbonate and mixturesthereof.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment at least 50 mol. %,more preferably at least 80 mol. % and most preferably at least 90 mol.% of the metal cations contained in the neutralizing agent is Na⁺.

During the pH adjustment of step b), the temperature of the first liquidvinegar is kept below 65° C., preferably below 60° C., more preferablybelow 55° C. Controlling the temperature in this manner provides aproduct with improved (visual) appearance.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the neutralizedvinegar is dried to produce vinegar derived particles having a very lowwater content of less than 5 wt. %, more preferably of less than 3 wt.%, even more preferably of less than 2 wt. % and most preferably of lessthan 1 wt. %

The neutralized vinegar is preferably dried at a temperature in excessof 58° C., more preferably in excess of 60° C. in order to maximizeformation of anhydrous salts.

The neutralized vinegar is typically dried to produce vinegar derivedparticles having a volume weighted average diameter of 50-500 μm, morepreferably of 100-400 μm, most preferably of 150-300 μm. This maysuitably be achieved by breaking up the neutralized vinegar intodroplets and drying these droplets, e.g. by spray drying. Alternatively,the vinegar derived particles may be produced by first drying theneutralized vinegar to produce a dry residue (e.g. by means of drum oroven drying) and by subsequently reducing the size of the dry residueby, for instance, grinding, milling or cutting.

Preferably drying of the neutralized vinegar in step c) comprises spraydrying of the first liquid vinegar. In the present process, prior to thespray drying, the neutralized vinegar may be concentrated byevaporation. Preferably, the neutralized vinegar has a dry mattercontent of 20-60 wt. %, most preferably of 28-45 wt. % when it issprayed into a spray dryer. In an embodiment of the invention, theprocess does not comprise a pre-concentration step and the neutralizedvinegar subjected to the drying step c) has a dry matter content ofbelow 40 wt. %, preferably below 35 wt. %, more preferably below 30 wt.%, most preferably below 29 wt. %. The dry matter content is typically20 wt. % or higher.

In an embodiment of the invention, the process does not comprise thestep of subjecting the neutralized vinegar to a discoloration treatment,preferably it does not comprise a step of combining the neutralizedvinegar with activated carbon, or any other adsorption agent. Asindicated herein before, the products obtained in accordance with thisinvention have acceptable visual appearance and the application ofdiscoloration treatments typically will not be necessary.

The spray drying of the neutralized vinegar is advantageously performedin a spray-drying apparatus equipped with a spinning wheel atomizer. Thespinning wheel atomizer is preferably operated at 6,000-20,000 rpm

In the process of the present invention the second liquid vinegar ispreferably combined with the vinegar derived particles by spraying thesecond liquid vinegar onto the vinegar derived particles. By graduallyspraying the second liquid vinegar onto the agitated vinegar derivedparticles in the form of a very fine spray lump formation may be avoidedand a homogeneous powdered vinegar having a uniform particle size can beproduced.

Agitation of the vinegar derived particles can be achieved, forinstance, by tumbling, by stirring, by shaking or by keeping theseparticles in a fluidized bed. Most preferably agitation of the vinegarderived particles is achieved by keeping these particles in a fluidizedbed. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present processstep e) is performed in a fluidized bed apparatus.

The second liquid vinegar typically comprises 20-55% (w/v), morepreferably 22-52% (w/v) and most preferably 25-50% (w/v) acid. Thesecond liquid vinegar preferably has a pH of less than 2.5, morepreferably of less than 2.3, more preferably of less than 2.1, and mostpreferably less than 2.0. Typically, said pH may above 1, preferablyabove 1.2, more preferably above 1.4, most preferably above 1.5.

The dry matter content of the second liquid vinegar typically lies inthe range of 20-58 wt. %. Preferably, the dry matter content is in therange of 22-54 wt. %, most preferably of 25-51 wt. %.

Typically, the second liquid vinegar contains not more than 5 wt. % ofundissolved solids. Even more preferably, the amount of undissolvedsolids does not exceed 1 wt. %, most preferably it does not exceed 0.1wt. %.

In step e) of the present process the second liquid vinegar ispreferably combined with the vinegar derived particles in a weight ratioof 8:92 to 60:40, most preferably of 10:90 to 40:60. In an embodiment ofthe invention the second liquid vinegar is combined with the vinegarderived particles in a weight ratio of 1:15 to 1:1, preferably 1:15 to1:5. In an alternative embodiment of the invention the second liquidvinegar is combined with the vinegar derived particles in a weight ratioof 1:7 to 1:1, preferably 1:7 to 1:5.

During the combining of the second liquid vinegar and the vinegarderived particles exothermic processes (e.g. hydration) occur. Animportant element of the present invention is to control step e) of theprocess to avoid that these exothermic processes cause the temperatureof vinegar derived particles and the second liquid vinegar to exceed 58°C. If during step e) temperature of the vinegar derived particlesincreases to above 58° C. unwanted melting and subsequent wet quenchingand lump formation may occur. Additionally, at the indicated temperatureevaporation of free acid from the second liquid vinegar and/or vinegarderived particles becomes significant, to such extent that it may nolonger be possible to produce a final product having the desired levelof free acid.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, during step e) thetemperature of the vinegar derived particles and the second liquidvinegar is controlled to stay below 58° C., preferably below 54° C.,more preferably 50° C., still more preferably below 45° C. and mostpreferably below 35° C.

In order to ensure that the aforementioned exothermic processes do notcause the temperature of the vinegar derived particles and the secondliquid vinegar increases to an undesired level typically some form ofcooling will be applied during step e). Cooling may be achieved indifferent ways, e.g. carrying out step e) in an apparatus that comprisesexternal cooling means and/or by cooling the vinegar derived particlesand/or the second liquid vinegar before they are combined. In case stepe) employs a gas flow, e.g. in case of a fluidized bed, it isadvantageous to control the temperature of vinegar derived particles andthe second liquid vinegar by adjusting the temperature of the gas.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, step e) is carried outusing a bed of vinegar derived particles that is kept in a fluidizedstate by a continuous gas flow and the temperature conditions duringthis step e) are controlled by monitoring the temperature and byadjusting the temperature and/or flow rate of the continuous gas flow inresponse to the measured temperature. This embodiment offers theadvantage that the temperature conditions during step e) can becarefully controlled, enabling the production of a powdered vinegar ofconstant quality.

During the combining of the second liquid vinegar with vinegar derivedparticles preferably not more than a limited amount of dehydrationoccurs. Typically, water loss during the combining of the second liquidvinegar with the vinegar derived particles is below 20%, more preferablybelow 10% and most preferably below 5%. Here the water loss refers tothe percentage of the total amount of water contained in the quantity ofsecond liquid vinegar that is added to the vinegar derived particlesthat does not end up in the powdered vinegar.

In an embodiment of the invention, the process does not comprise anysteps of combining the vinegar derived particles with an organic acid,especially an organic acid selected from the group consisting of citricacid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid and fumaric acid sodiumsalt, in addition to combining the vinegar derived particles with saidsecond liquid vinegar.

The combination of the second liquid vinegar with the vinegar derivedparticles in step e) yields a particulate product that is optionallysubjected to a drying step to yield the powdered vinegar of the presentinvention. Preferably, however, no additional drying step is used.

An aspect of this invention concerns a powdered vinegar as obtainable bythe process described in the foregoing. This powdered vinegar mayconsist essentially of vinegar derived components or it may additionallycomprise other food-grade ingredients, e.g. a carrier material such asmaltodextrin, proteins, sugar, etc. The present process however offersthe advantage that it enables the production of powdered vinegar withoutthe use of substantial quantities of carrier materials. Consequently, inan embodiment the total combination of vinegar derived free andneutralized acids represents at least 50%, more preferably 80-100% andmost preferably 90-100% of the dry matter that is contained in thepowdered vinegar. As used herein ‘vinegar derived free and neutralizedacids’ refers to all free and neutralized acid originating from thefirst and second liquid vinegar used as the starting materials forproducing the powdered vinegar. As will be understood by those skilledin the art, the exact composition of these liquid vinegars depends,amongst other, on the type of vinegar used. Typically, in accordancewith this invention, more than 90 wt. % of the free and neutralizedacids in liquid vinegar (and, hence, of the ‘vinegar derived free andneutralized acids’) is acetic acid, in free and neutralized form, morepreferably more than 95 wt. %, more preferably more than 97 wt. % andmost preferably more than 99 wt. %. Other acids which may be present insmaller quantities in liquid vinegar, and thus may also be part of the‘vinegar derived free and neutralized acids’ include lactic acid, malicacid, citric acid and tartaric acid, in free and neutralized form.Besides vinegar derived free and neutralized acids and water, thepowdered vinegar of the present invention may contain appreciable levelsof other vinegar derived components. Examples thereof typically includesugars, proteins, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, natural pigments(e.g. anthocyanins or caramel) and combinations thereof. According to apreferred embodiment, the vinegar powder contains 0-10 wt. %, morepreferably 0.1-5 wt. % and most preferably 0.2-2 wt. % of such furthervinegar derived components.

Free vinegar derived acid and neutralized vinegar derived acid aretypically contained in the powdered vinegar in a weight ratio of 1:30 to1:5. Even more preferably the latter weight ratio is within the range of1:27 to 1:6, most preferably of 1:25 to 1:8.

The content of free vinegar derived acid of the powdered vinegartypically exceeds 3.5 wt. %. Even more preferably, the powdered vinegarcontains 3.8-20 wt. %, most preferably 4.0-15.0 wt. % free acid.

The powdered vinegar preferably contains a total amount of neutralizedvinegar derived acid, notably sodium and potassium salts of the vinegarderived acid, in the range of 40-92 wt. %, more preferably in the rangeof 50-90 wt. % and most preferably of 60-85 wt. % by weight of drymatter.

It is further preferred that Na⁺ represents at least 50 mol %, morepreferably at least 70 mol. % and most preferably at least 90 mol. % ofthe cations of the salts that are contained in the powdered vinegar.

The levels and hydration state of the neutralized acids that areemployed in the present process are such that they enable the productionof a storage stable powdered vinegar despite the presence of appreciablelevels of free acid and hydrated water. The powdered vinegar produced inthe present process can contain an appreciable level of water.Typically, the powdered vinegar has a water content of 4-35 wt. %, morepreferably 9-32 wt. %. In an embodiment of the invention the powderedvinegar has a water content of 4-20 wt. %, more particularly of 5-15 wt.% and even more particularly of 6-12 wt. %.

The powdered vinegar produced by the present process preferably has avolume weighted average diameter of 50-600 μm, more preferably of100-500 μm and most preferably of 150-350. μm.

The bulk density of the powdered vinegar typically lies in the range of300-600 kg/m³. Most preferably, the bulk density lies in the range of350-450 kg/m³.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a food-grade preservative inthe form of a free-flowing powder comprising a powdered vinegar asdescribed herein before.

Yet another aspect of the present invention relates to a method ofproducing a foodstuff or a beverage, said method comprising combining apowdered vinegar as defined herein before with one or more other edibleor potable ingredients.

Typically, in the aforementioned method the powdered vinegar is combinedwith the one or more other edible or potable ingredients in an amount of0.1-5%, more preferably in an amount of 0.2-1.5% by weight of thefoodstuff or the beverage.

A further aspect of the invention relates to the use of the powderedvinegar of the present invention for the preservation of a food product,notably a meat product.

The invention is further illustrated by the following non-limitingexamples.

EXAMPLES Example 1

Three hundred grams of concentrated grain vinegar (free acidcontent=28.9% (wt)) were introduced into a reactor that was equippedwith a pH probe and a cooling mantle. Next, an aqueous sodium hydroxidesolution (50%) was slowly added under continuous mixing and cooling soas to keep the temperature of the mixture below 65° C. The addition ofsodium hydroxide was discontinued as soon as the pH of the mixture hasincreased to at most 7.0. Mixing is continued for another 30 minutes.

The neutralized vinegar so obtained was fed to a spray-drier equippedwith an atomizer wheel and spray-dried using air with a temperature ofabout 150° C. The spray-dried powder was introduced into a fluidized bedoperated with air at about 10° C. Vinegar of about 28.9% wt dry solidscontent was sprayed onto the powder in a final ratio of about 83% powderto about 17% vinegar. The powder reached a temperature of about 32° C.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A free flowing powdered vinegar, comprisingfree vinegar derived acid and neutralized vinegar derived acid in anamount of 80-100% of the dry matter that is comprised in the powderedvinegar, wherein more than 90% of the free vinegar derived acid andneutralized vinegar derived acid is acetic acid in free and neutralizedform, wherein Na⁺ represents at least 90 mol. % of the cations of saltsthat are contained in the powdered vinegar, wherein the powdered vinegarhas a water content of 9-15 wt. %, at least a fraction of the waterbeing present as a component of hydrated salt, wherein free vinegarderived acid and neutralized vinegar derived acid are contained in thepowdered vinegar in a weight ratio of not more than 1:8, respectively,and wherein the content of free vinegar derived acid is 3.5-20 wt. %. 2.The powdered vinegar according to claim 1, wherein the content of freevinegar derived acid is 3.8-20 wt. %.
 3. The powdered vinegar accordingto claim 2, wherein the content of free vinegar derived acid is 4.0-15wt. %.
 4. The powdered vinegar according to claim 1, comprising a totalamount of neutralized vinegar derived acid within the range of 40-92 wt.% by weight of dry matter.
 5. The powdered vinegar according to claim 1,wherein the powdered vinegar has a volume weighted average diameter of50-600 μm.
 6. The powdered vinegar according to claim 5, wherein thepowdered vinegar has a volume weighted average diameter of 100-500 μm.7. The powdered vinegar according to claim 6, wherein the powderedvinegar has a volume weighted average diameter of 150-350 μm.
 8. Thepowdered vinegar according to claim 1, wherein the powdered vinegar hasa bulk density in the range of 300-600 kg/m³.
 9. The powdered vinegaraccording to claim 8, wherein the powdered vinegar has a bulk density inthe range of 350-450 kg/m³.
 10. A process of producing a powderedvinegar according to claim 1, comprising: (a) adjusting the pH of afirst liquid vinegar to a value within the range of 5.5-7.0 to obtain aneutralized vinegar; (b) drying the neutralized vinegar to producevinegar derived particles having a water content of less than 5 wt. %;(c) combining a second liquid vinegar with the vinegar derived particlesin a weight ratio of 1:15 to 1:1, wherein, the vinegar derived particlesare agitated and the temperature of the vinegar derived particles andsecond liquid vinegar is controlled to stay below 54° C.
 11. The processaccording to claim 10, wherein the first liquid vinegar comprises 10-40%(w/v) free acid.
 12. The process according to claim 10, wherein theneutralized vinegar is dried to produce vinegar derived particles havinga volume weighted average diameter of 50-500 μm.
 13. The processaccording to claim 10, wherein the second liquid vinegar comprises20-55% (w/v) free acid.
 14. The process according to claim 10, whereinthe second liquid vinegar is combined with the vinegar derived particlesby spraying the second liquid vinegar onto the vinegar derivedparticles.
 15. The process according to claim 10, wherein the pH of thefirst liquid vinegar is adjusted to a value within the range of 6.0-7.0.16. A method of producing a foodstuff or a beverage, the methodcomprising combining one or more other edible or potable ingredientswith a free flowing powdered vinegar, comprising free vinegar derivedacid and neutralized vinegar derived acid in an amount of 80-100% of thedry matter that is comprised in the powdered vinegar, wherein more than90% of the free vinegar derived acid and neutralized vinegar derivedacid is acetic acid in free and neutralized form, wherein Na⁺ representsat least 90 mol. % of the cations of salts that are contained in thepowdered vinegar, wherein the powdered vinegar has a water content of9-15 wt. %, at least a fraction of the water being present as acomponent of hydrated salt, wherein free vinegar derived acid andneutralized vinegar derived acid are contained in the powdered vinegarin a weight ratio of not more than 1:8, respectively, and wherein thecontent of free vinegar derived acid is 3.5-20 wt. %.